Mmmmm, I like the bean idea but I like black beans, and yes olives!
Favorite dehydrated/semi-lightweight camp dinner?
- Thread starter Cookannapurna
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On one of my trips I brought a home dried, left over Chipotle burrito, with extra Tabasco sauce. It was pretty darn tasty, packed a lot of energy too, and rehydrated especially well!
Cook up your favorite spanish or mexican rice recipe, plus add plenty of vegetables cut up consistently small. Separately cook some lean ground beef along with finely chopped onions, herbs, and seasoning. Dehydrate the rice and beef separately. Dehydrate your favorite salsa to leathery consistency. Dehydrate refried beans from a can, use the low fat variety. At camp, rehydrate each of the above, could rehydrate combinations or all together, but is more recognizable if each is rehydrated separately. Wrap all in a tortilla, add freshly grated cheese and freshly chopped onion if you have them. This was a favored tasty energy meal to sustain a voyageur canoe crew during two Yukon 1000 mile races.
For breakfast.... (could be dinner too)
Dehydrate frozen hash brown potato patties (break them up), or any other source of hash browns. After dehydrating, be sure to crumble the dry hash browns. You could stop here with the hash browns, but it is way better to add several beaten eggs to make a thick egg/dry potato slurry. Season with salt and pepper and bake in a shallow pan for 30 minutes. Do not overbake until crisp, it should still be slightly moist. Eggs do not dehydrate well on their own, but when absorbed in the already dry hash browns, the result is fantastic. Now break up the baked egg/potato mixture and dehydrate until all moisture is gone. Crumble and package.
You're not done yet. You can buy packaged crumbled real bacon bits. Or separately cook, season, and dehydrate lean ground beef. At camp rehydrate the egg/potato and beef separately. Cook up a package of McCormick Country Gravy mix. Pour gravy over rehydrated egg/potatoes, Top with bacon bits or the rehydrated beef. This is probably my favorite hot breakfast when camping. And another favorite with the Yukon race crew.
Dehydrate frozen hash brown potato patties (break them up), or any other source of hash browns. After dehydrating, be sure to crumble the dry hash browns. You could stop here with the hash browns, but it is way better to add several beaten eggs to make a thick egg/dry potato slurry. Season with salt and pepper and bake in a shallow pan for 30 minutes. Do not overbake until crisp, it should still be slightly moist. Eggs do not dehydrate well on their own, but when absorbed in the already dry hash browns, the result is fantastic. Now break up the baked egg/potato mixture and dehydrate until all moisture is gone. Crumble and package.
You're not done yet. You can buy packaged crumbled real bacon bits. Or separately cook, season, and dehydrate lean ground beef. At camp rehydrate the egg/potato and beef separately. Cook up a package of McCormick Country Gravy mix. Pour gravy over rehydrated egg/potatoes, Top with bacon bits or the rehydrated beef. This is probably my favorite hot breakfast when camping. And another favorite with the Yukon race crew.
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I have used the already dehydrated hash browns in the instant potato section of the market but not added the eggs and dehydrated again.. Great idea.. I put it in the recipe section of my Documents.!
I'm saving this thread period! I'm on my way to the market now, I'm going to test several of these out!
Thanks for all the responses, and keep them coming, this is a great resource!
Thanks for all the responses, and keep them coming, this is a great resource!
I make a lot of vegetarian meals when I'm at home, and when I have a good amount of leftovers, into the dehydrator they go. The only change is, if I know I'll be dehydtrating, I chop the veggies a bit smaller. So, what's favorite? Probably black beans over rice. The basic recipe is on the back of the Goya can. I think Goya calls for too much water, so I usually end up stirring in some tomato paste to thicken the sauce, and I use a whole green pepper instead of whatever quantity is called for in the recipe. Sometimes add mushrooms and red peppers, too. When dehydrating, I fix a large bowl of beans over rice, stir it all up, and then dump it on the dehydrator sheet (covered with lightly oiled foil).
Talking to some other campers last week, I commented on tofu. When I've dehydrated dishes with tofu, the tofu never seems to fully rehydrate. I thought about separately cooking tofu and bagging it separately so that I could start soaking it in water a long time before I wanted to eat it in the dish. One of the assembled campers recommended shredding it with a cheese grater vice cubing it per my normal practice. When sliced that finely, it should be no trouble to de- or rehydrate. Beans already have plenty of protein, so probably don't need tofu, but some of my other dishes are definitely getting shredded tofu added.
Talking to some other campers last week, I commented on tofu. When I've dehydrated dishes with tofu, the tofu never seems to fully rehydrate. I thought about separately cooking tofu and bagging it separately so that I could start soaking it in water a long time before I wanted to eat it in the dish. One of the assembled campers recommended shredding it with a cheese grater vice cubing it per my normal practice. When sliced that finely, it should be no trouble to de- or rehydrate. Beans already have plenty of protein, so probably don't need tofu, but some of my other dishes are definitely getting shredded tofu added.
I've marinated and dehydrated thinly sliced tofu like jerky. Eh... it works ok, if you like leathery tofu.
Actually long ago I discovered that vegetarian recipes are very flavorful, I guess they have to be, and I like and prepare them a lot. Especially when I add meat to them as an a complete meal option. Really.
Actually long ago I discovered that vegetarian recipes are very flavorful, I guess they have to be, and I like and prepare them a lot. Especially when I add meat to them as an a complete meal option. Really.
I just cook regular meals everyone likes and dehydrate the extra. I vacuum seal them in food saver bags and toss them in the freezer until the next trip. My personal favorites are beef stroganoff, chili, and left over sloppy joe meat (I serve with tortillas). Super light weight and compact when dehydrated, good for big appetites in camp.
Commercially, my absolute favorites were Hawkvittles Bison Stew and Buffalo Pasta, but they're no longer made... His Beef Stew and Sweet Italian Sausage w/Pasta are my current favorites, primarily because someone else did the work.
Barring that, my favorite is my own beef or venison stew, run through my home dehydrator. Meat browned in oil, garlic and other spices, bouillon, rice and barley, carrots, celery, onions.... Mmmm.... I guess the one thing I do differently than some is cut my meat fine... I don't like just 5 big hunks of meat in my stew... I want 15 little hunks, so I can get some meat with every bite... this also aids the de/re-hydration, I think.
If I use "stew meat" so-packaged from the store, I usually end up cutting each piece into at least 4 pieces. (I can't get my venison processor to cut it smaller either, even when I ask him... always gives me big hunks... oh well.)
Barring that, my favorite is my own beef or venison stew, run through my home dehydrator. Meat browned in oil, garlic and other spices, bouillon, rice and barley, carrots, celery, onions.... Mmmm.... I guess the one thing I do differently than some is cut my meat fine... I don't like just 5 big hunks of meat in my stew... I want 15 little hunks, so I can get some meat with every bite... this also aids the de/re-hydration, I think.
If I use "stew meat" so-packaged from the store, I usually end up cutting each piece into at least 4 pieces. (I can't get my venison processor to cut it smaller either, even when I ask him... always gives me big hunks... oh well.)
We still have much to learn and experiment with. Recently we tried Shepherd's Pie. Our own dehydrated beef, peas etc, with instant mash potatoes. Next time I'd like to dehydrate our own potatoes, just to try the difference. It was yum, in a plain old meat and potatoes kinda way. Very easy. We also dehydrated our own chilli con carne (beef, beans etc) and baked up some corn bread on the side. Another belly full of yum. Fresh hot chillies travel well on a trip, and add spice to so much...chilli, pasta sauce, eggs, and even bread.
The fresh hot chilies added spice to Mem on the trip for sure!
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